Bock Émissaire | Brasserie Bièropholie

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Appearance  This one is just gorgeous. The body is dark brown and the head came up beautifully. It showed great retention and left lacing all along the inside wall of my glass.

Smell  The caramel malts are extremely pungent. This is one of the strongest-smelling Bocks that I have had. The aroma is non-traditional in its complexity. Along with the malts and dark sugars I can pick up strong tobacco and some dark fruits, maybe plums, grapes, and fig.

Taste  Yes, this is big and dark. The tobacco comes on huge at the taste. The sweetish malts are here in force as well. This almost tastes like that liquid malt concentrate. It is laden with molasses and dark sugars.

Mouthfeel  This is full-bodied, believe it or not, and very heavy. This is Bock on steroids.

Drinkability  Most Bocks I had in Germany were light, session biers. This is a monster, second only to Pandoras Bock in size and hardiness. The diehards may cry foul, but I thought that this was excellent.

2005 edition. Pours brown, as close as I've ever seen to just plain brown. There is a thin tan cap, but it didn't stick around.

The smell is full of toffee. Toffee or caramel, in substantial amounts. Makes a very rich malt aroma.

There's a fair amount to look for within this beer as far as flavour goes. The toffee and caramel show up right from the start. From there, a hint of chocolate slips in and leads to the finish, which is a slightly bitter burnt taste. This lasts for a while, and hints at molasses or even maple as it lingers.

There is some body to this beer, and it feels a bit sticky. The carbonation is fairly low, but it does well here. The mouthfeel works when put alongside the flavour profile. This beer wouldn't feel right if it was thin and highly carbonated, things like toffee, caramel and molasses all have the sticky quality.

Drinkable? Certainly, if you like your beers malty. There is enough flavour here to slow me down somewhat, but I don't think that takes away from this beer, only adds to the experience.

Very nice, lives up to my expectations and more. Thanks Mike(Orrshow) for bringing this back from Montreal.

Bottle: Poured a black color ale with a huge dark head with average retention. Aroma of roasted malt, subtle banana with some mild chocolate. Taste is sweeter then expected but very enjoyable nonetheless. The mix between the sweetness, the banana and the roasted malt is great. Body is full and the only thing that didnt please me as much as the rest was the molasses feel at the end. Anyway, another great beer from Biropholie.

Big thanks to northyorksammy for passing along this little-known gem. Came in a 341 ml brown longneck bottle, gold foil around the neck and cap. Photo of a big horn sheep on the label wearing a superimposed illustrated jester's cap (the Bierpholie logo I would imagine) with two of the flaps shaped as ram's horns, and hops hanging off the ends of all of them.

This is a wonderful looking bock, a clear cherry red/carbernet in colour when held up to the light, a medium bodied chestnut otherwise. Not much head on the pour, but a biege ring most of the way down. Aroma is intense, dates, brown sugar, toffee, toasted malt. The flavour is a whollop of sweet malts, while barely contained by some hops near the finish, although the hops manage to survive through the aftertaste. Medium-bodied mouthfeel for such immense flavour, which makes this a very deceptively easy beer to drink, although all the sweet malt gives it something of a chewy texture as well. Disappointing that I only have the one bottle, this is an excellent discovery that northyorksammy was gracious enough to share. Not a traditional bock, but it gets big points for interpretation and an excellent final result. I'm looking forward to trying whatever else Bieropholie has been brewing up, just to see how they put their personal touch on other styles.

Dark amberish burgundy color, with no carbonisation, just a lipid red amber liquid. No head at all, just a small lace that dissapeared, I guess it was shy! Hops come out of that beer, a sweet bitter smell sugar too. The taste is like the smell, sweet, very bitter, hopish beer, with extracts of sugar reminding me of syrup at time, a tiny bit dry.

Clear burgundy brown with a short-lasting tan head. Chocolatey hops and herbal aroma. The sweetest IPA. This promising nose displays a good balance. In mouth, you can't say whether it's the hop profile or malt that plays the role of backbone. Grapefruity and rather bitter, most bitter bock I encountered easily. Medium to full body, silky overall. A must try, although german's righteousness is not respected here, this is hoppy!

Taste: Lighter than i thought. Malty feel with some caramel/toffee. A toasted feel around the edges of the mouth. Ends with a touch of bitterness.

Mouthfeel: A little thin and muted, probably due to age. Smooth, malt is well balanced. A bit of nut and leather in there. Clean finish and a little (bitter?) sweet. Dry fruit and a slight coffee presence.

Drinkability: Drinks fairly well. I would have another one.

Overall: A pretty straightforward beer that still has some legs on it though age is starting to show. Taste is good though and i am looking forward to the new batch coming soon.

Pours a deep mahogony body, topped by a creamy looking and thin beige head. Massive malts in the nose, mild rum notes, burnt caramel, alcohol, and faint smoke. Nice! There's also a little bit of nose burn from the alcohol.
Taste is sweet malts, lots of bitterness. Mild caramel and alcohol notes as well. Alcohol as well, but ads a nice warmth! Nice alcohol burn and warmth in the mouth. Cloying at times, long lasting malt aftertaste. Well balanced, complex, good example of what I think a bock should be! CHEERS TIGGMTL!

Clear ruby in color, with an even tan head that fades disappointingly quickly. The aroma is quite enticing. Very sweet, with a toffee-like maltiness. There's a bit of tobacco in there as well, and a surprisingly good hit of herbal hop boquet. Medium-bodied in the mouth, with low carbonation. The flavor starts malty sweet, like a good bock should, becomes a little toasty mid-palate, and develops just a slightly burnt character toward the finish. More unexpected hops at the back end -- this one of the more bitter bocks I've had. And, yeah, it's not what the style book recommends. But hell. It works. A tasty brew

Served a deep dark brown black with a big tan head. Tastes sweet, but full. There is malt complexity going on here folks! Hops are subtile, but are there for balance. I really can not get over how good this beer is. We were at the pub the day before and this one was not on the menu. I'm so glad we came back and got to try this incredible beer. Best bock I've ever had!

bottled: a brisk pour into a bock snifter reveals a red-mahogany lager with a good 2 finger mocha colored cap that laces well. Nose is delicious...smokey-musty tangerine smells mingle with cocoa and woody hops. Buttery mouth feel....burnt/chared toffee character mingles with some spice tones... with a nice flood of hop bittering near the finish....finish is wet with sweet burnt toast after taste. This is a bock on par with Creemore...very nice, very drinkable...actually, too damn drinkable.

Very dark, looks brown until you hold it up to the light... then you see that it's clear and a very deep ruby colour. It has a short, dense, tan head that reduces to a thin lace and leaves a sheet of fine bubbles on the sides of your glass. Rich, caramel malt aroma with a woody, earthy character and a generous dose of hops. As it warmed, I started to notice a bit of tobacco and fruit as well. The chocolate, toffee, and caramel flavours are very pronounced - it's almost like eating a candy bar, except for the hop bitterness - and there's a bit of molasses mixed in with light hop flavour in the finish. Bitterness really comes out in the finish. Silky texture and full bodied with moderate carbonation that's quite fine. Slight alcohol warmth as it warms. Excellent balance and a great flavour profile makes this beer quite easy to drink. Hoppier than expected, but it really works. I'll gladly pick more of this up on my next trip to Montreal.

2005 Emissaire* Pours brown - just, plain brown. A very sweet aroma, scotch ale like. Darker malt, very chocolaty in the front. Very sweet, like a chocolat liquere. Full bodied and chewy in the mouth. Dry, abrupt split in the taste, quite astringent. Very good carbonation. A mean dark brew and slightly bitter in the finish that lingers around the mouth. A rich taste and hop bitterness make this extremely filling. Molasses gives it a character of its own. A bit of something and well crafted, I'm beginning to see this quality in all Bieropholie beers.

Dark brown with ruby edges, and a slightly brown head. Aromas are complex malts, chocolate, slight bittering hops, tobacco, cedar wood, and more. The taste is chocolatey, caramelly, and very malty with only a hint of hops in the middle and finish. The mouthfeel is medium bodied&gt;thick and very silky on the tonuge and the drinkability is very good for a bock. An excellent, yet hoppy, version.

Pours a very dark brown with hints of red, capped with a small but tenacious beige head.

Rich, malty molasses aroma with roasted hazelnut notes.

Lots of delicious maltiness here, sugary caramel and molasses are balanced with a mild roastiness and subtle hops. Alcohol warms the mouth and throat just enough to be noticeable and the beer finishes off with a slight grainy astringency and lingering bitterness. Thick and syrupy with a prickly carbonation.

This beer is a real treat in a province devoid of solid german brewing influence and styles. I have griped for long that we needed a decent bock and one has arrived.

Very dark and warm caramel colour trimmed with crimson highlights under a sadly disappointing and diminutive coffee tinged head of evanescent foam. A limited amount of lacing salvages the score from the sub-floor.

Aromas are rich and malty sweet with overtones of chocolate, figs, demererra sugar and a faint hint of cloves. This is a seductive and complex blend of aromas that suit this cold autumn evening perfectly.

As if reflected in a mirror, the flavours are strikingly similar to the aromas as a malty chocolatey backbone takes control of the initial flavours. Firm and full bodied, notes of toffee and dark candied fruits emerge in the middle but get swept aside by a gentle alcoholic bitterness that balances the sweet malt.

This is a surprisingly heady and very flavourful brew that warns you of its potence by its alcohol signature but lures you in with its rounded body and succulent flavours. Be warned, it fills you quickly but, like chocolate, is sinfully tempting. Could be mistaken for a dopplebock IMO.